Head Gardener, Trevor Nicholson with fresh produce grown in the Walled Garden

September is a busy month in the gardens. From harvesting and weeding to spring planting, there’s plenty to be getting on with! Here are a few helpful tips from our Gardens Team to help you on your way.

De-seed perennial weeds:
To help stop the spread of perennial weeds, it’s a good idea to remove the seed heads in September.

Apply mulch after rain:
With so much to do, it’s a good idea to apply mulch to your beds after a heavy rain shower. It keeps the moisture in and give you a little more time to think about next year’s planting.

Harvesting vegetable crops:
For allotments owners and veg growers now is a wonderful time of year. All that hard work has paid off and you can enjoy the fruits, potatoes and onions of your labour.

Order your spring bulbs:
Now is the time to get ready for spring. Get your bulbs ordered and plan for the new year ahead. A good tip is to plant bulbs which flower in different months to give a succession of bright flowers as the seasons change. Don’t forget that September is the best time to plant Bluebells. Get them in early to ensure a full bloom next year.

At Harewood the Terrace, Archery Border and Walled Garden are at their best. Make sure you come along and enjoy them before the end of the season.

Lady Worsley broke all the rules of polite society. The Scandalous Lady W, starring Natalie Dormer, recently told the colourful tale of the 18^th century’s most public, tabloid worthy relationship in a BBC drama.

A detailed view of Lady Worsley’s portrait

A beautiful and wealthy heiress, Seymour Dorothy Fleming was one of England’s most eligible bachelorettes. On the 20^th September 1775, at the age of 17, she married Sir Richard Worsley. Now known as Lady Worsley, Seymour brought £52,000 to the union which is the equivalent of over £6 million in today’s money.

Lady Worsley was a spirited and independent young woman. She wasn’t afraid to say what she thought and do what she wanted, something that at the time, was not expected of a woman. Wives were expected to do their husband’s bidding and were seen as property in the same way as cattle or land.

In November 1781, Lady Worsley eloped with Captain George Bissett, a friend of her husbands, leaving her 4 month old baby behind. This act of defiance prompted Sir Richard to bring a criminal conversation case (adultery, with one of his officers) for £20,000 against Bissett. Lady Worsley made the courageous decision to support Bissett, publicly humiliating herself and her position in society.

Testimony was provided by a number of Lady Worsley’s 27 lovers and her doctor, William Osborn. He testified that she had suffered from a venereal disease which she had contracted from the Marquess of Graham. This acted as evidence that Bissett had not been alone in committing adultery with Lady Worsley.

Although Sir Richard looked to have a strong case, it was undone by a final piece of evidence. Rather than suppressing their relationship, it was later proven that Sir Richard had displayed his wife naked to George Bissett at the bathhouse in Maidstone encouraging the affair. This evidence destroyed Sir Richard’s suit and the jury awarded him only 1 shilling in damages.

It’s hard to imagine what determination she must of had to leave her husband during that time period. The scandal would be shocking by today’s standards never mind in polite Georgian society! It could be argued that Lady Worsley showed great resolve in the way she approached the case. It was a brave  move to present her romantic encounters so bluntly in defense of Captain Bissett.

Today, the famous Joshua Reynolds painting of Lady Wolsey hangs in the Cinnamon Drawing Room of Harewood House. The portrait depicts the young Lady Worsley in the milita uniform of her husband.

How is Lady Worsley related to the Lascelles family?

Seymour Dorothy Fleming was the younger daughter of Sir John Fleming of Brompton Park and his wife, Lady Jane Coleman. Her father and two of her sisters died when she was just 5 years old and she and her elder sister, Jane Harrington, were raised by their mother. Her mother remarried in 1770 to Edwin Lascelles, 1st Lord Harewood making Lady Worsley the step-daughter of Edwin.

What can I see at Harewood about Lady Worsley?

As well as the famous painting, we are showing letters written to “Mr Hewitt” which relay the scandalous exploits of Lady Worlsey and her two companions during a Christmas meeting at Harewood in 1778. The account explains how “Lady Worsley and two Miss Cramers threw most of the gentlemen’s clothes out of the window, particularly their breeches, thinking them I suppose unnecessary.”

Can I see the painting?

Yes, visitors to Harewood House can explore the House, grounds and see the painting in the Cinnamon Drawing Room. Call 0113 218 1000 or go to our Visit page for details.

Yorkshire born Olympians Alistair and Jonny Brownlee are bringing their legacy triathlon back to Harewood House on Saturday September 26^th.

Our spectacular grounds will host the Sprint and Super-Sprint courses for the second consecutive year. The Brownlee Tri, which you can enter as a team or as an individual, offers a new pontoon for the swim start and finish in the beautiful Harewood lake. This is followed by a traffic-free cycle upon some of the same roads as the Tour de France and an off-road run along many of the routes that the Brownlee brothers train on.

To find out more details and to sign up, please visit the event’s website here: www.brownleetri.com

*Entries close on Sunday 13^th September

Visitors that haven’t yet bought tickets for this year’s CLA Game Fair are encouraged to go to the CLA Game Fair website as soon as possible to ensure they benefit from advanced ticket discount prices.

The advance ticket discounts for this year’s event, to be held at Harewood House in Yorkshire from Friday 31 July until Sunday 2 August, ends on at midnight on Monday 20^th July.

Buying advanced tickets via the Game Fair website means visitors can take advantage of significant savings: a one-day adult ticket for the Friday costs just £30 online, giving a £5 saving on the gate price of £35. Advance one-day tickets for Saturday and Sunday cost £25, a saving of £5 on the gate. In addition each adult ticket also allows free entry for a junior visitor up to the age of 16 and free parking, making it superb value for money.

Advance online Adult ticket prices will increase to £34 for Friday and £29 for Saturday or Sunday ensuring purchasing online continues to be worthwhile compared to purchasing on the gate—and of course you will beat the queues!

Two and three-day tickets, which are only available online will remain at a discounted price for the Friday and Saturday or Friday and Sunday costing £50 while a two-day ticket for the Saturday and Sunday is just £45. An adult ticket for all three days is £75. Senior citizens also benefit from reduced prices for advanced tickets.

Tony Wall, Director of the CLA Game Fair commented: “Our advance ticket prices really do offer some great savings which make the CLA Game Fair even better value for money! Buying tickets via our website is both easy and quick so please do go online now. After all why pay more?”

For more detail, visit www.gamefair.co.uk.

The fourth annual Antiques & Fine Art Fair at Harewood opens from Friday 11 September until Sunday 13 September 2015 in The Marquee in the grounds of Harewood House, Harewood, near Leeds in West Yorkshire LS17 9LQ, organised by The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited and supported by Knight Frank’s Harrogate office. Antiques Fair ticket holders will have the added advantage of access to Harewood’s grounds and ‘below stairs’, as well as a special ticket price offer to visit the House’s state rooms and current exhibitions, over the three days of the Fair.  Harewood members will receive free entry to the Fair and free parking. Antiques Fair tickets cost £5 each on the door or in advance.

An exquisite array of fine art and antiques will be for sale, including silver, antiquities, jewellery and watches, paintings, clocks and barometers, glass, traditional and country furniture, books, English and Continental ceramics, contemporary and 19th century sculpture, objets d’art and much more. The majority of the high calibre dealers, convening at The Marquee at Harewood from around the country, are members of the British Antique Dealers’ Association or LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers, the two main UK bodies governing the antiques trade.

Local silver dealers, Jack Shaw & Co from Ilkely offers a wide selection of silver, including pieces made in York: a set of three Victorian meat dishes, £6,750, a seal top spoon, c1650, £1,875 and a George III cruet set, £2,250.  Malka Levine brings an impressive pair of Sheffield plate wine coolers, c1820, priced at £4,800, as well as a pair of Mappin & Webb silver vases, 1925, with a price tag of £1,200.

Olde Time has a diverse collection of clocks and barometers. One highlight is a cast bronze elephant clock surmounted by a figure blowing a shell, 16½” high, c1860, £12,950, possibly by Miroy Frères, Paris.  The elephant’s trunk is raised, which is a sign of good luck, and it stands on an ormolu rococo base.

TV personality and antiques dealer Mike Melody of Melody Antiques, from Chester, deals in oak country furniture, including a matched set of six ash and elm Lancashire  spindle back chairs, c1830,  priced at £1,495 for the set and a late 19th century Orkney  chair, £975.  S&S Timms Antiques has an exceptionally rare Queen Anne period walnut miniature chest on stand, with original brassware, raised on cabriole legs, c1710, £14,500 and a Queen Anne walnut wing back armchair, c1710, £9,500.

With this being the year commemorating the Battle of Waterloo 200 years ago, a Baccarat crystal glass paperweight of bottle form with a sulphide inclusion of Napoleon, c1840

£1,600 is fitting and to be found on Mark J West’s stand. Jewellery and precious objects from T Robert include an 18ct gold and platinum calibrated emerald, diamond and natural pearl Belle Epoque necklace, c1910, £4,450  and  an exceptional lacquer and multi-gem set Shibiyama double sided table screen, c1880, £1,850. Other jewellery specialists exhibiting include Plaza with designer pieces and Anderson Jones.

Paintings include Owen Bowen’s A Yorkshire Farmhouse, £1,850 from Ashleigh House Fine Art. Bowen (1873-1967) studied at Leeds School of Art and was elected to the Staithes Group in 1904. He painted landscapes in and around Leeds and in Northumberland.  Harry Sutton Palmer’s watercolour of River Ure and Vale of Mowbray near Ripon measures 20¼” x 14½” is priced at £3,800 from Baron Fine Art.

In addition, Tim Phelps of T L Phelps Fine Furniture Restoration will be on hand to advise and show examples of his work. Tim Phelps has worked on restoration of Chippendale furniture at Harewood House.  Advisers from Wilson Mitchell & Co Ltd, a partner practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management, will be happy to discuss investments with their clients and other interested visitors.